Scotch and licorice
by Aydine
Summary: Bad things just keep happening when John is around Chas, mostly kinda bad for Chas. Maybe there's a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. Chastine slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Scotch and licorice  
**Author**: Aydin Suzanna K.  
**Pairing**: John Constantine/Chas.  
**Rating**: PG-13 for strong language.  
**Disclaimer**: I own nothing regarding the characters or the film.  
**Summary**: Bad things just keep happening when John is around Chas, mostly kinda bad for Chas. Maybe there's a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. Chastine slash.

"Stop here," John muttered as he looked out the window.

Chas pulled over and hit the breaks abrubtly. '_Take me to this and that place, Chas. Stop the car, Chas. Chas, let me out of the car.'  
_He snickered, that was a very amusing day, locking John in the car. The less funny part was that Chas locked himself in there too. Constantine had confiscated all Chas' licorice in the cab, and he would remove anything else Chas brought into the cab for the 3 days that followed after that. He just wanted to get John to listen and let him help out.  
The young man sighed and turned around to face the man sitting in the back. At least his licorice was returned to him. Might not have been all of it, Chas was convinced that his boss had stolen one or two, how ever ridiculous the thought.

"This isn't fair, John," he fussed when the eerie man motioned to open the door of the cab and not seeming very interested in asking for backup.

John froze before his hand even reached the door and looked up, raising an eyebrow as if it were the first time he listened to Chas complain about wanting to help out - well, 'listen' to a certain extent.  
He seldom listened to the exact words when his apprentice would kick off the subject again, John had learned by now how to recognize the context without having to identify the words that were spoken. To John it was more like a disturbance in the frequency where he would then move along to find a spot where everything was sound. This time was slightly different. John took the time to argue longer than necessary.

"Let me guess," Constantine shot back as he opened the door. "You want to tag along."

Surprised at hearing something else than '_Stay in the cab_,' Chas got his hopes up and stared expectantly at John, who had already placed one foot on the street, and even though that was a very strong indication for this conversation to be aborted very soon, Chas was all too eager to jump out of the vehicle and hug the big scary man if this time Constantine would only let him come with.

"Really, John? Can I?" Chas inquired, deliriously buoyant and toying with the idea of acting out the fantasy that certainly did not involve trespassing John's personal space that could result in all sorts of lethal repercussions. None of them beneficial to Chas' health.  
While Chas scrutinized John, waiting for an answer, he caught himself admiring the man's dark and ruffled hair. It was so close, within his reach, John hair. Chas had to resist the urge to touch it, as he was quite attached to his hand. And licorice.

John just sneered and Chas started to realize Constantine was not going to let him come along and help with this case.  
_'Pull his hair, Chas, not only will it make him feel your wrath but you get to touch it too. Two flies, one stone.'  
_"You're the spitting image of the asshole that got in the cab earlier today, John," Chas blurted out instead.

"And, you want to help," John went on smugly and completely ignoring the remark, now visibly taunting the youth. "You're tired of just waiting in the cab."

"John, how'd you get so smart," the aggravated Chas uttered and demonstratively turned to face away from John. Arms folded.

John frowned and briefly he considered taking the kid with him, he would never admit it, but somehow he found Chas' admiration and enthusiasm flattering, acknowledgment that John didn't receive anywhere else. And he never really tested it out, if Chas could .. -

As if he sensed John's thoughts, and also brutally interrupting them, Chas turned around again, not ready to give up. "John, you know I can do more besides driving your ass back and forth."

"You mastered the skill of shutting up for 10 seconds?"

"Thank you, John, I bet you have some hidden charms, too," Chas snapped, chewing his licorice. "John, please," he then tried to reason. "I don't even have to do anything, I could just watch and pick my nose, I won't get in your way."

John glared back at Chas, staring into the big bright eyes that were as hopeful as ever. No, his presence would only distract. He couldn't do his job right if he had to worry about the safety of his apprentice. Of course that's not what he was going to tell Chas, he might get licorice thrown in his face, but what was he going to say? _Let's try not to be such a prick for once._  
He looked away for a minute while he rehearsed in his mind, and he couldn't do that while he's being looked in the eye.

_'How about, 'I like you better alive.' No, too sappy. 'You're too good a kid to risk losing.' Too emotional. John, you don't get emotional, you're an asshole.'_

"John?"

Constantine looked up at the sound of Chas' voice.

"You okay, John?"

"I'm an asshole," John finally said, his voice stifled. As though realization had just struck him, he tried to hide the expression of disgust. Quite possibly not aware of the fact he was thinking out loud.

Chas glared at him, looking kind of bored and not at all shocked by this notion. "If this is the part where I have to say '_No, John, don't say that, you're a very nice man. Don't do anything stupid,' _I'm gettin' out of this car and put you in front of a bus for making me tell a lie."

There was a silence and their gazes met for a few moments until they both looked away. But Chas was curious what the man was getting at, since it wasn't particularly shocking news that John lacked the necessary consideration and sympathy for his fellow humans to function properly. Maybe he'd had too much whiskey this morning. Chas chewed his licorice and studied the lines on Constantine's face when ever John looked the other way and increasingly admiring the hair, the eyebrow that looked so cool when he would raise it in skepticism, the dark, deep eyes that sometimes seemed to be able to fry your brain or set other thoughts in motion.

At the same time John would watch on as Chas chewed on that rubbery thing and wasn't looking, not letting on his fascination but couldn't help to let his eyes trail off to the smooth skin, and the tense muscle in his neck when he would turn his head. The chair regrettably blocked John's view. It was time to get out of the car.

"John," Chas broke the silence. "What are you doing checking out my neck?"

_'Thinking it's a nice neck,'_ John thought to himself. "I'm not fucking looking at your neck, Chas," he snapped, trying to hide his embarrassment. Most definitely time to get out of the car. "I'm late."

Chas nodded as his eyes followed John out of the car. "Tell yourself what ever you want to, John. But I saw what I saw."

"You stay put," John ordered as he popped his head back in the car.

"Why can't I come?" Chas insisted. "John, please, come on." '_I feel useless, John.'_

John sighed. He knew the kid would never drop it unless he gave him an answer, but knowing Chas, he wouldn't settle for anything that meant he couldn't come along. "I don't want to risk your life, Chas."

"John, I might die in a car accident and that doesn't keep you from putting me behind the wheel," Chas countered. "Besides, it's just an exorcism, you always return with a smile and a giggle."

"You stay in the car, if you're looking to have a picnic I'll show you some ants another time." John looked at him, intense. His tone wasn't mocking in the least.

"John, what if something -"

"You're a distraction, Chas," Constantine broke him off mid-sentence, sounding much more pungent than he intended. He took a breath upon seeing the hurt in the boy's eyes. "You watch the car," he tried, knowing that it wasn't convincing or showed any confidence in the boy at all.

"Yeah, John, the world's a much safer place with me watching the cab. Because you know who I am? I'm Chas Kramer, underestimated 'apprentice' of Constantine, John Constantine, _asshole_," he stirred.

"Chas."

"Have another drink, John," he foiled, pointedly avoiding eye contact with the man.

That actually stung. Normally, John would've already closed the door and be on his way, because he was an inconsiderate bastard after all, but he couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to say what he wanted to say. Yet he couldn't admit to the feelings, they fucked up his balance and his stoicism.  
He looked at Chas, who was still sulking behind the wheel, seemingly waiting for John to leave, to apologize, to bring him along or to just talk to him and John didn't exactly know which, he felt more like kissing the guy, Chas looked like he needed it, well, that or a drink, it was hard to tell the difference. John could do with both.

_'John, just shut the door and walk away. If you don't know how to fucking handle it, don't handle it.'_

"Chas, I need you out here," he said and countered his thoughts as it was very tempting to actually shut the door. He tried to sound sympathetic, and he succeeded to the point where it didn't sound as a plea nor did it reflect an order. He waited for Chas to turn around before he continued, their gazes met for a moment and John knew the tone of his voice was more appropriate this time. "If something happens in there and we both get our sorry asses killed, we might as well stay both in the car."

"You protecting me, John? That's kinda sweet," Chas smiled tauntingly. He appreciated the serious look on John's face, but it was too good to let it lie there. This must be how John always felt, beating around the bush for his own amusement. He knew what John was saying, and in all probability John always knew what Chas was saying but not acknowledging it.

A sigh escaped John's lips and an eyebrow went up. Chas loved that facial expression. "Could you do that again?" he let out excitedly before he even realized that he was practically begging John to raise his eyebrow again. Chas swallowed when he fathomed he actually said that instead of thinking it.

"Do what?" John sighed and cocked an eyebrow once again, not understanding the strange plea and at the same time he gave the kid exactly what he wanted.

Chas smiled sheepishly. "Nothing."

"Look, Chas," John started over. "I don't want to get my friends killed."

This felt like the right moment to end the conversation. John slammed the door shut and reached inside the pocket of his jacket for his pack of smokes. He put a cigarette between his lips and lit it as he started to walk across the street, but stopped in his tracks upon hearing Chas opening the door, closing it and running after John.

Constantine glanced over his shoulder in frustration. He took a long drag of his cigarette and turned around when Chas had almost caught up with him.  
"Didn't you just hear me," the exorcist lashed out and then realized they were only separated by 2 inches. A little shocked, John took a step back. "Stay in the fucking car, Chas."

Chas smiled. "Yeah, John, whatever," he disregarded and continued without a moment's pause. "I didn't know that we're friends, John. I thought we were just pretending to like each other in silence."

"I'm not pretending, Chas. I'm just -"

"An asshole, right?" Chas finished for him with a grin from ear to ear.

John chuckled and took a drag from his cigarette. "Sure," he spoke with a lopsided grin, blowing the smoke in a direction other than Chas'.

Without saying anything further, John moved away from Chas and headed for the house where he was supposed to exorcise a demon 20 minutes ago, assuming Chas would return to the car without having to be told again. Once he arrived at the door, he found Chas standing next to him. A little annoyed, he looked at the boy who didn't seem to want to leave his side.

John didn't even need to say anything, Chas knew what he was thinking because _'fuck off'_ was written all over the man's face. "Just walking you to the door, John," he grinned with a shrug.

"Could you ring the doorbell for me, there's always a possibility it'll eat my finger," he responded dryly and tossed his cigarette into a direction he didn't care for.

Before John realized what happened, Chas grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him against the door as hard as he possibly could. It didn't take as much strength as he had thought, it always seemed kind of difficult to move John, in every sense of the word. But it was considerably easy since he caught John completely off guard. After a second, he pressed his lips against Constantine's for a deep kiss, forcing his tongue inside when John relaxed under his touch. John quickly recovered from the surprise and leaned in, eager to return the kiss.  
When Chas pulled away, it was John who pushed him into the door and kissed him hard. Chas didn't object and finally found the courage to run his hand through John's hair while John explored his mouth, almost swallowing him, until Chas broke it off to catch a breath.

"You ring the doorbell yourself, assho.. -" Chas started with a grin until the door was suddenly jerked open from the inside by an anxious parent, waiting for that one man who could fix her son.  
Both John and Chas clumsily crashed inside and landed on the floor. The lady jumped aside just on time to avoid the impact of the pile of men that were at her feet. John lay on top of Chas, looking quite uncomfortable trying to collect his thoughts but failed to jump to his feet right away. '_Welcome to the life of Chas,'_ it flashed through John's thoughts as it didn't feel like normal stoic and alert John-behavior.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi, ma'am," Chas greeted the woman as cheerfully as he could from under John's weight, trying to nudge him into getting off of him. "John, you're scaring the nice lady, get off," he mumbled. "And you're kinda scaring me, too."

"Distraction," John hissed, his mouth only inches away from Chas' ear, he breathed down on him, sending a sensation through Chas' body. John took in Chas' scent one last time and then jumped to his feet to straighten his tie.  
Chas rolled to his side and pushed himself up. _'Did he just sniff me? Whatever.'_ He shrugged it off as he reached to the floor to grab his hat, skillfully he placed it atop his curly head and smirked, letting everybody know that _'This is Chas.'_

The woman was a petite, 40-something figure with dark hair and dressed in rather formal clothes. She was very shaken up. If she'd tremble any more her clothes would fall off. She cleared her throat. "You're the exorcist? Constantine?"

"Yeah," he answered terse, forgetting his manners and his thoughts still on Chas' lips. "And you're Mrs. Walker," he uttered after his senses returned to him. "Where's the asshole?"

At first the woman didn't quite understand. Her son's an asshole?

"The asshole inside your son, Mrs. Walker," John insisted as if reading her thoughts.

She nodded, wringing her hands. "Upstairs, first room to your right," the woman stuttered and started to follow John to the stairs as soon as he headed in that direction. John stopped in his tracks and looked at Chas.

"Chas, keep her away," he ordered and pushed the woman back to the front door where Chas stood motionless. "Please."

"Sure thing, John," he smiled and led the woman outside, happy to be of some help. Not what he had hoped for, he'd rather be at John's side, but at least he could do something besides waiting in the cab that helped John.  
_'He said 'please.' That's about just as weird as the thought of John eating delicious kiwis, or chocolate, or.. anything, really. Maybe John has funny tingly feelings.' _Chas snickered, realizing just how ridiculous the words 'tingly' and 'John' sounded in one sentence.

Chas came back to earth, appreciating the fact that John trusted him to take care of the woman while he was burning funny things in her son's forehead. Feeling quite accomplished, Chas walked her to the car and was about to open the door for her so she could sit there for a while, but his hand stopped moving as his thoughts trailed off to John.  
Mrs. Walker seemed to be verging on hysteria and Chas was having difficulty with keeping her and his thoughts quiet. He simply couldn't stand it anymore after 3 more minutes, by now his thoughts were involving a shit load of John and his tongue and Chas didn't know what to think of everything combined. At the same time he tried to shush the woman who just didn't shut up.

"Is my son going to be okay?" Mrs. Walker shrieked, latching her hands onto the collar of Chas' jacket a little more desperate than he cared to deal with, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Will he live?"

Chas stuttered for a few moments but stood motionless while the woman practically had her nose pressed against his.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Mrs. Walker," he tried to stay polite and understanding but his absentminded appearance only made the woman to jerk his jacket harder, trying to get through to the curly boy. "Listen, lady, he'll be fine, just let go of my jacket," Chas snarled and the woman lurched him harder, Chas could've sworn he heard a few seems snap, but he wasn't sure, it could have been his patience. "A ripped jacket is bad luck."

He tried to peel her fingers off, gently at first, because he figured it was just a fragile little woman, but her grip didn't budge. "Don't make me pull your hair, woman," Chas threatened and after a moment her grip loosened. He grabbed her by the wrists and pushed the tensed up arms back to where they belonged. He leaped a few feet away from her as though he was thrown back and calmly adjusted his jacket.

The woman, however, did not stop her whining and it was really starting to annoy him to try to think while some lady yammered all the way through his thoughts. He sighed and finally managed to open the door to the back seat for her. "Sit on your ass and shush," he scowled.  
When she didn't do either of those, he roughly shoved her in the cab, locked all the doors and walked across the street back to the house without paying any attention to her yelling. He sat down on the porch, putting his head in his hands, trying to think but the screams that came from upstairs and the muffled cursing emerging from the cab across the street were too overpowering.  
Chas could really use something to do right about now, something to occupy his mind with other than thoughts.

"Chas!" John roared out the window, to Chas it was the voice of an angel answering his prayers. "Get up here!"

He didn't hesitate and stormed inside, almost losing his footing when his foot connected with the doormat, but he kept his balance to prevent himself from falling on his face. He ran up the stairs, remembering the words _'first room to your right'_ and took a left, opposite the room John was in.

"Over here, Chas!"

Chas spun around. It had been a very confusing day thus far and the logic of 'left' not being a 'right' had momentarily abandoned him. "Right, sorry!" he shouted out and ran into the room where John and the asshole-possessed-son were in. "You yelled, John?" he said under his breath, trying to catch any.

"Hold his head."

As Chas rushed over he noticed that the kid John was struggling with couldn't have been older than 13 and was putting up quite a fight while strapped to his bed, looking veined and just downright ugly. Chas took his position and hovered over the head of the bed, opposite John who straddled the kid. "Is this normal?" Chas wondered as he kept a firm grip on the kid's head and observed his condition.

John didn't respond, he tried to block out Chas as he spoke Latin words, burning a cross into the possessed kid's forehead. John's eyes were closed.  
Chas' eyes were locked on John, it was kinda sexy to see him working like that, the intense expression on his face, the sweaty forehead and tensed up muscles, though it didn't quite look like passion or dedication, more like highly concentrated frustration.

Suddenly one hand of the kid broke free of the restraints and got a hold of Chas' throat, trying to choke him. _'Great job occupying your mind, Chas.'_  
He tried to shout out to John, who still had his eyes closed and failed to pick up on the change, and Chas could only make a gargling sound. He hoped that John would hear the difference between his friend being choked and a hoarse demon screaming all sorts of things. But the bellowing of the demon must've been too overwhelming. _'John, just because I wasn't paying attention, doesn't mean you can't look up for a second. John, come on, I'm kinda hurting over here!'_  
With one hand Chas tried to hold the kid's head steady and with the other he tried to free himself of the firm grip around his throat. Neither of these circumstances could be dealt with with just one hand. Chas could imagine John telling him _'Think fast, kid. You're no use when you're dead.'  
_  
Chas took one hand off the insubordinate head and tried to release himself from the pressing on his throat with both his hands. When that wasn't successful and John was still murmuring Latin with his damn eyes closed, Chas reached for John's shoulder with the little strength he had left.  
Just when his hand was only inches away from John's shoulder, the hand on his throat went limp. John had done his job right, the demon was exorcised and Chas was saved by pure luck. Chas backed away in relief and cowered against the wall, gasping for air.

"Jesus, Chas," John complained at the sight of his apprentice trying to get his breathing steady, paying no attention to the kid on the bed. "You could've said something!" John was almost in panic.

"How would you know, John, you had your fucking eyes closed," Chas shot back weakly and got on his feet. "Is the kid okay?" he asked, pointing at the boy on the bed.

"He'll live," John said and stepped off the bed to approach Chas, carefully. "Are you all right?"

Chas touched his bruised throat. "Well, I'm still the proud owner of my head, aren't I?" he flared and watched John roll his eyes. "I'm fine, John." Chas turned away and left the room.

John followed him out at a quick pace, crowding Chas for the first time in, _ever_. "Where's the mother?"

"I locked her in the cab, John," he sighed as they descended the stairs.

John frowned. "Why?"

"She didn't shut up," Chas answered agitated, he refrained from raising his voice. Why couldn't John shut up? He never talked this much before. John didn't ask questions and didn't follow people around unless they needed a good getting killed. Any closer and John would step on his heel that could lead them to stumble down the stairs together and end up at the front door again the way they came in.  
Chas could still taste John, scotch and nicotine, he figured he probably even smelled like John too. '_Sniff your clothes later, Chas, when John isn't breathing down your neck.'_  
He didn't know whether he should be angry, pleased or relieved. John let him help, he almost got himself killed, but he didn't get killed, he got to shove his tongue down John's throat, touched his awesome hair and he didn't get killed. Chas was frustrated and confused.

John wanted to ask what was up with Chas' unusual bad vibes and lack of nonstop talking, he wasn't used to Chas being distant and annoyed, sure, Chas would get annoyed with John ever and anon, but John sensed that Chas tried very hard not to turn around and throttle him.  
But the answers were right in front of John, Chas was almost done in by a possessed 13 year old, John had his eyes closed. And of course the fact that they were launched into a home in the middle of their make-out session could have had something to do with it too. That didn't exactly leave John indifferent either. If John didn't know any better he could've sworn he had licorice. John suppressed a chuckle.

When they reached the cab, Chas unlocked the doors to let the woman out of the vehicle, he actually told her to "Get the fuck out," and grabbed her arm to launch her onto the street when she didn't get out right away. He paid no attention to the startled woman who just barely managed to keep herself from falling on all fours, nor did he take note of the dumbfounded expression on John's face as he walked around the cab to open the door and got behind the wheel.

John was half expecting him to take off with screeching tires, he seemed upset enough for it, but Chas didn't go anywhere. Through the side window John could see Chas put his hands on the steering wheel and lay his head on them. Was he crying? Exhausted? Nauseated? Feeling like shit, no doubt.  
John looked around him and noticed that the woman was still standing beside him, he wrinkled his nose. Before opening his mouth, he opened the door to the car. "Get in the house and untie that lunatic son of yours," was all he said and slid in the back of the cab, closing the door without waiting for a response.

Chas straightened. Seemingly calmer now. "I kinda need a drink, John."

"Me too, kid," John murmured as he was feeling around in his pocket for his smokes and lighter. Before lighting it, he looked up and noticed Chas had already turned around and was staring at John with a mix of expectation, relief and admiration in his eyes. "You scared me half to death," John let out with a cigarette between his lips. He lit his cigarette when a feeling of guilt overwhelmed him.

"John?"

"Yeah."

"Which way to the drinks?"

"My place," John said with a resolved face.

Upon that note, Chas started the car and drove off. "Your place has drinks, John? Who'd have thought." He had somewhat gathered his wits and they grew nervous.

'_John's place. Drinks. John hair. Drinks. John lips.' _It echoed through his head. He wasn't sure if the recent events mixed with drinks would have a constrained outcome. Chas wanted to ask what would happen with _the drinks at John's place_ but words got caught in his throat, '_Are we gonna make out some more?'_ The words were just very badly chosen anyway.

Chas cast a look in the mirror where he caught John's reflection. '_He's looking kinda stoic. How can he do that at a time like this? Why can't I do that?'_ It only got more confusing. Chas locked his eyes on the road again and tried to give it a rest, it was simply unnerving. He was feeling around for his licorice where he'd usually put it, desperately craving for some. "John," he started with suspicion upon not finding anything. "You don't happen to know where my licorice went, do you?"

"Meaning?" John wanted to know, still seeming stoic in a Clint Eastwood kind of way.

He scowled. "Did you eat them? Don't make me pull over."

"Chas, the only moment I got something remotely close to licorice in my mouth, was when you put your tongue in there," John said almost unfeeling, but the somewhat off-balanced grin gave his amusement away, it was kind of devious. John barely made an attempt to hide it._  
_  
Chas opened his mouth to say something, closed it again and started over.

"John," he finally started and glared at Constantine in his mirror. "You almost _ate_ me when I put my tongue in there, you don't need the candy anymore. Hand it over."

"I didn't take your damn candy. Now relax, kid."

"Relax," Chas muttered. "I'll relax when I get that damn drink."

Chas pulled the car over when they had reached John's building, during the rest of the ride no words were exchanged. John had opened the door almost before the car even came to a halt and was the first to get out. John lit a cigarette as he waited for Chas to get out of the car, but it seemed to take the kid forever.  
John tapped on the side window, "You coming, or what?"

It was as though Chas was stapled to his seat, he desperately wanted to get out of the car but his feet wouldn't do what his brain told them to do. _'Move it, feet.'_ Chas wanted a drink very badly, he could cry right about now. '_Get out of the car, get out of the car.'_

John opened the door to the passenger seat and glanced at Chas. "I can't move, John," he finally said as his eyes met John's, begging the man to help him out of the car but without the words.

He looked so helpless that John had to try hard not to laugh. Chas saw that. "Sure, laugh it up, John. I'm glad you're..- " John shut the door and didn't hear the rest of Chas' sentence. He walked around the car and opened the door on Chas' side.  
John gave him an incredulous look and then he leaned in with the intent to unbuckle the seat belt, wriggling his way between Chas and the wheel. While doing so he could feel Chas' breath on the side of his face. The breathing was unsteady.

Chas swallowed hard. _'This is fuckin' ridiculous. No, this is scary. I need a drink and a cookie,' _he thought while John's hand motioned to Chas' waist, carefully reaching for the lock. Chas froze, this was far more worse than not being able to move.

"I know how to work a seat belt myself, you asswipe," he managed to blurt out just when John freed him from the belt, withdrawing his hand.

John turned his head and looked at Chas, their noses almost connected. "I thought you said you couldn't move," he said gently with a grin that was barely detectable.

"That's right," Chas confirmed, he felt like such a birdbrain for needing John to help him out of his seat belt. "And the problem didn't really go away with the seat belt gone now."

John straightened and got himself out of the car, hoping that Chas would do the same, regardless of what he said. But he didn't. "Then what the fuck's the problem?"

Chas glared at him. He hoped he didn't have to spell out it for John. He didn't even _know_ how to spell it out or exactly _what_. Too many thoughts were going through his head.

Constantine sighed and looked at him. _'The kid's nervous.'_ John found a lot of questions raving through the bright eyes. He didn't have the answers, he just wanted a drink and for the kid to stop being so damn twitchy. "Fine, I get it. But you're gonna have to move sooner or later. If I have to carry you, you might loose consciousness completely," he tried for levity.

_'Great, because I didn't look like a meek schoolgirl enough already.'_ Chas threw his head back and sighed. "John, could you bring me a drink?" he begged. Chas could probably move if he wanted to, but it was too scary and he was trembling more than he cared to admit. He needed a little nudge from courage in a bottle.

John quirked an eyebrow. "I don't see how that would help you getting on your feet."

This had taken long enough. Chas wanted to get the hell out of the car and booze it up, he could feel his legs, so in theory they should do their job right. '_Cowboy the fuck up, Chas. Does John look like he's expecting anything? Not particularly. He's being strangely patient, though. Get out of the car and have a civilized drink with the man.' _Chas snorted, John and civilized, that'll be the day._  
_Determined, he swung his legs outside, that was a good sign, and he reached his arms out to John, suggesting to help him up. The worst thing that could happen then was that he would fall into John if he lost his balance, but that was always better than falling on his face at John's shoes.  
Instead of taking the boy's hands, he grabbed Chas by the shoulders and hauled him to his feet, not letting go right away in case he would fall over.

"That went well," Chas smirked, not quite feeling like himself yet, but he tried very hard.

"I'm gonna count to 3 and then I'll let go," John warned, a little worried about what could happen if he did.

He shook his head. "John, don't be such a loser," Chas smirked and stepped away from under John's grip to prove he was fine. "See? All set to get wasted."

Chas spun around, ready to plunder John's scotch and keeled over even before he could take a step. A painful grunt escaped him, his arms were mostly hurt from trying to keep his body from the impact, but other than that he was surprisingly fine, his head even managed to refrain from hitting the street. But Chas couldn't be bothered to move, it just made him very tired and fed up.  
_'Almost getting choked, not being able to move and then to be able to move only to fall over right in front of John, just too many humiliations and pain to fit in a day.'_  
Chas relaxed all the muscles in his body and just lay there on the street next to the cab. He closed his eyes, calmly breathing in and out and just enjoying this moderately peaceful moment.

"Chas? What happened?" John finally asked upon not seeing the boy move. He kneeled down next to him, carefully placing his hand on Chas' shoulder.

"You're gonna laugh if I tell you, John," he murmured.

"Not likely."

Chas hesitated for a moment. "I tripped over my shoelace."

John didn't laugh. He grinned a little, but Chas couldn't see that with his eyes closed. "Well, can you move?" he asked after struggling with himself for a moment to not let his grin resound in his voice.

"Yeah," Chas sighed. "But I don't wanna."

Constantine couldn't bother to argue, the little patience that he had was completely spent and he clenched his hands around Chas' arms and hauled him up. The boy yelped in pain. "I said I could move, John, not that I wasn't in any pain!"

"I need a drink," John said flatly, letting go of him and stalked towards the building. Chas was right behind him, happy that he could walk towards that drink without tripping over his own feet.

"You got any cookies?" Chas wanted to know, rubbing his sore arms in turn.

John wrinkled his nose. "I thought you wanted a drink."

"Yeah, but cookies are comforting, too. I can have both," Chas looked at John's profile while they kept on walking. By the look on John's face he gathered cookies were an unknown phenomenon to the man. "You never had a single cookie in your entire life, have you, John?"

"Chas, knock it off." He quickened his pace.

"Knock off, what? What am I doing?" Chas tried to keep up.

"Breaking the silence," John mumbled, lighting a cigarette as they entered the building.

"Wait, isn't that a good thing? Is it working? Why are we in such a hurry? John, could you talk to me, please, you're driving me fucking nuts."

John kept on walking and took a long drag from his cigarette instead. Chas followed him and staid quiet until they got to John's apartment. John unlocked the door, nudged Chas inside and followed him in, closing the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sit," John said as he pointed at the kitchen table. Chas stared at the table for a moment and walked over to the table, taking off his hat and jacket and piled them up on the floor before he sat down with his back turned to the window. This felt pretty weird, and why not, it really did fit the day. Chas watched as John walked into his bedroom, taking off his jacket and threw it on his bed.  
There was already one glass settled on the table, on John's side of the table and the scotch was there already too, _still_, more like. '_Way to come home, an empty glass waiting to get filled.'_  
Chas knew that John wasn't particularly social, you'd only find John at a party if it was ruined by a half breed, but sitting here at this table, he imagined John sitting at the other end every night, it was an eerily lonely thought. Chas locked his eyes on the lonely glass, until John suddenly reappeared and settled an empty glass in front of Chas, really loud it seemed at first, but this place was so quiet, even the softest whisper would make Chas jump at least a foot in the air.

John sat down across Chas and opened the bottle, avoiding eye contact while he filled the bottom of both their glasses. Chas shifted in his seat. This was going to be a long, quiet evening, how ever long it would take, it already felt like forever. John settled the bottle back on the table and motioned his hand to his glass.  
With his hand hovering above his glass, John looked at Chas who was studying his long awaited drink.

"Drink up," John uttered and raised his glass to take a big swig, settling his empty glass back on the table long before Chas had raised his to sniff it and carefully took a sip.  
Chas swallowed, grimaced as the malt whiskey seemed to burn all the way up through his nostrils. John chuckled and just watched on. It didn't particularly taste like Baileys, not in the least, but he took another sip. Chas took many sips until he finished the rest in one swig, his body getting warm. Determined he placed his glass near John, wanting more, still not sure if he liked it or not.

"You actually have this stuff for breakfast?" Chas shrilled, trying hard not to look appalled. He didn't really hate the taste, but he couldn't define it either. _'It's probably one of those things you'll learn to enjoy once you're sloshed or a dipsomaniac, like John.'_

John just refilled their glasses and didn't say anything. Chas took his drink and watched while John put his glass to his lips, his eyes fixed on Chas.

"Are you gonna do that for the rest of the evening?" Chas wondered.

"Do what?" was John's calm response.

"Staring at me," he scowled and took a shot of his drink. "It's not good for my health, John."

John stared back at him, idly. Chas felt like he was dying.

"John, I know you're used to trying to stare the window to shatters when you sit there, but I'm just wondering here if I'm blocking your view."

"My view's just fine, Chas," John said amused but collected, seemingly not really seeing the problem and definitely not looking away.

For a moment Chas was confused and turned around to see what was so nice about the view. _'The view out the window completely sucks,'_ Chas thought upon not seeing anything spectacular because the blinds were shut. He felt John's eyes pricking in his back, Chas swallowed. He was used to that, in the _cab_, but this was completely different because they.. weren't in the cab.

"Oh," Chas uttered as his eyes widened. "Oh! The.. the uhm.. the view," he exclaimed as he turned back to the table and stared straight into John's eyes.  
Chas' cheeks flushed and he tried hard to find words for a comeback that didn't include a sound like 'uhm' but after opening and closing his mouth 7 or so times, he washed down the whiskey that was still in his glass.

"Well," he finally came out with, pointedly staring at John. "My view's tortuously quiet."

John leaned back in his chair, smiling and shrugged. "Sorry."

_Pretty hot lookin', too. _"I like your hair," Chas continued in hopes to elicit more than one word out of John's mouth. Thinking that these drinks were really awesome, he didn't really wait for a response and slid his empty glass in John's direction. "Gimme more."

John complied, pretending not to have heard the comment on his hair and poured himself some more, too. _'Don't get the kid drunk,'_ he warned himself. He moved his hand to push the refilled glass back to Chas, but he didn't need to nudge it at all as the glass was already on its way to Chas' lips, soaking up the whiskey before John even realized the glass was missing. John blinked.

"Take it easy, Chas," he let out gently, sipping his glass.

"Yeah, that was kinda the idea, John," he replied anxious, reaching for the bottle to pour himself more scotch, never minding the fact that John suggested to fill up his glass too while he was at it.

John wanted to stop him, he wanted to stop Chas many times after that and he watched him imbibe the alcohol many times as well until John finally drew the line when the bottle was empty. Half of which went down John's throat.

"Dude, where you going with that bottle," Chas managed to verbalize when John rose, taking the bottle with him. Chas gestured after the bottle, as though he was trying to make it come back.

"It's empty, Chas." John turned around when he arrived at the counter, brilliantly disguising the fact that he didn't exactly hold back on the booze either, he wasn't nearly as drunk as Chas was, but he had to blink several times to make sure the counter was actually where he thought it was at before randomly placing the empty bottle there. John then moved to get Chas a glass of water.

"Empty," Chas pouted and let his head rest on the table for a moment, allowing his eyes to roam over the back of John's fully dressed bodies, there were 3 too many John's in his sight. Chas blinked long and hard until he saw just one John. "Get some more," he murmured when his eyes locked on John's well-rounded butt. "I'm sure you got loads more stashed away somewhere."

John walked back to the table and settled the glass of water in front of Chas, "I think you're relaxed enough, Chas. You can barely sit up."

Chas raised his head to study the contents of the glass and wrinkled his nose. "It looks like water, John, and it doesn't smell like whiskey. Are you drunk?"

John tried hard to suppress a laugh, he managed up to the point where he reduced it to a grin. "Come on, Chas, drink the water, you're drunk as fuck."

When Chas was about to say something, there was a knock on the door. John told him one more time to drink the water and then got up to answer the door. Chas flipped him the finger and finally took the glass to drink the water, accidentally spilling half of it on his shirt. Chas giggled like a maniac, just barely able to put the glass back on the table before the giggles sent him out of his chair to land on the floor with a loud thud. For a moment, he stopped laughing to let out a prominent "Ow!" only to continue the laughter.

John spun around, forcing one hand to his head to keep his brain from scooting over the table. "Jesus, Chas, would you stop the bullshit!" he yelled through the riot of giggles as he opened the door to let a funny little man inside, wearing big, square specs. It was Beeman. The man just gawked at the display. John didn't seem quite collected, that was not very surprising, but usually John didn't use so many marked facial expressions. The sight of Chas rolling and laughing on John's floor was exceptionally disturbing. Laughter, in John's apartment. "John, what planet am I on?" Beeman inquired.  
John's hand shot up, shaking his head in painful exhaustion to stop Beeman from asking more about it. They both just stared at Chas who seemed to have quite a lot of fun by himself.

Chas calmed down after a few moments, trying to find the will and strength to get back on his chair. He got so far that he pulled himself up on the table and bobbed his head up from behind it to see who just entered the bewildered apartment. "It's Bumble..- no.. Bee..- Beetlebeem.. Beep.." Chas randomly guessed while his arms were starting to wig out on him and he was having a hard time deciding whether it was up he wanted to go, or down. He sighed.

Still with one hand pressed against his forehead, John stalked towards the helpless and drunken youth to help him up before he would hurt himself. He got behind Chas and slid his arms underneath the boy's arms, wrapping them across his chest and tried to haul him up. John looked bothered. Chas wasn't this heavy earlier today, but then, they both weren't this drunk earlier today. "Nooo, definitely not Beetlejuice," Chas went on, still fascinated by the unexpected but familiar visitor and not really cooperating to make it easier for John to help him back on his chair.

"Beeman," John mumbled under his breath, asking for some help to get the kid up on his seat even though it was tempting to not bother with it and just let the kid sleep it off on the floor. Beeman scooted to the sloshed men in need, after he put his things on the table.

"Yeah, that's it! _Beeman_!" Chas' arm shot up in the air, nearly bobbing John in the head, while he managed to duck away to avoid impact, John lost his balance and stumbled backwards, not really having had the time to let go of Chas, and took the kid down with him. Sandwiched by the floor and Chas.  
Though John's head was kind of hurting from colliding with the floor while breaking Chas' fall, he couldn't help but chortle. "Thanks, Beeman," he said weakly and unconsciously lay his hand on the curly head that was almost falling asleep on his chest, he ran his hand through Chas' hair for a moment, barely aware of his doing so.

"Awesome, Beeman!" Chas let out for no particular reason and grinned sheepishly at the touch on his head. He made himself comfortable, adjusting his body to rest his head on John's stomach. John withdrew his hand, wondering if Chas moved away from it. But Chas was far too out of it to notice the hand was gone, using John as a pillow, Chas was prepared to just take a nap right there until he felt a burden that made it impossible to relax. Chas frowned and let out a sigh. "I really need to take a piss." He tried to pull himself up but was unsuccessful.

John groaned. He knew something was still missing from this party. Angrily he pushed Chas off of him and Beeman offered a hand as well, pulling the young man to his feet. Chas didn't like that. He didn't like that at all. Everything was spinning, seriously out of focus and it was like he couldn't even see anything at all. "I think I liked it better on the floor and John's abs are soft," he whined, trying to sink back to the floor but Beeman didn't let go and helped him walk to the bathroom much to John's relief.

While Chas did his business with the help of Beeman to keep him from tipping over in an instant, John pushed himself to his feet very slowly. He could use another drink already. He shuffled to the table and plopped down on the chair, refraining from getting out another bottle to not give the kid any ideas and grabbed a cigarette instead. "Why'd you stop by, Beeman?" he asked much louder than necessary, the drowsiness making it sound like 'Beeeeeeman' while he fished around on the table twice before he finally got a hold of his lighter.

"Well," Beeman started as he emerged from the bathroom, supporting and almost crumbling under the drunken weight of Chas. "I brought some books on various demons, rare books."

John nodded and made no attempt to help him settle Chas on the chair who seemed to slide right off again but Beeman grabbed his shoulders just in time. "John, I don't see the point in putting him on a chair."

Constantine took a drag and looked at Chas who tried to brush off the hands in vain, a frustration that soon resulted in slapping the hands and Beeman retracted them in fear the kid would take drastic measures and bite. Chas felt his weight going this way and that way, desperately clenching his hands on the edge of the table.  
He let out a sigh of relief when he found himself still on the chair and gave John a smirk. He turned his head and scowled at Beeman, "I can sit just fine, you ape."

John chuckled and Beeman stepped back, looking at John. "Why don't I just come back later at a more appropriate time where I don't need to help people to the bathroom, and we'll talk about those books," Beeman said in the fear of having to help John too at a certain point. He gathered his things before he headed for the door after John gave him a nod and a "Sure."  
Once at the door, Beeman looked at the two drunks at the table, shrugged and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Chas looked away from the door and frowned at John, opening his mouth to say something but was either not drunk enough yet or he was too drunk to remember what he wanted to say. He probably didn't remember.

"What?" John wondered, eyes locked on Chas' intent and drunken gaze.

Chas propped his elbows on the table to rest his chin in his hands and dreamily stared at the older man. "I kinda wanna kiss you a lot," he blurted out.

John put out his cigarette, folded his hands and rested his arms on the table to lean in. "Go ahead," he said, his voice daintily.

Chas didn't need to be told again, he did the math and managed to have one hand behind John's head without having to miss three times prior to success and pulled John into a sultry kiss. Both tasting like scotch, John kind of missed the flavor of the licorice he identified Chas with earlier today, but the eagerness was there all the same. Running his hand through the curly hair, he pulled and kept Chas as close as possible with the uncomfortable table between them.

"'m kinda fweepy," Chas muttered in the middle of their deep kiss, their locked lips stifling the words.

John pulled away a little and grinned. "What?"

"I'm kinda sleepy," Chas repeated, only less muffled, the alcohol taking its toll. He could barely keep his eyes open. "I should go home."

"Bullshit, you're not driving like that," John ordered. Chas opened his mouth to argue, but John broke him off even before he could make a sound. "And you're not sleeping it off in the cab either."

John rose from his chair and walked around the table, reaching out his hand to the slewed Chas. Next thing he knew, he lay in John's bed, still wearing his clothes and not having the faintest idea how long it's been since he got there or how they even managed to get there.  
They probably just fell dead asleep on the bed the second they reached it. John was draped around him and breathing steadily, asleep. Still quite fazed, he smirked, feeling John's breath in his neck. Chas closed his eyes again. "Better not snore, asshole," he muttered before falling back to sleep in John's embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, when Chas woke up, he still lay on his side, only now he had to suffer one mother of a headache and a rather dry throat. He groaned painfully and couldn't bother with opening his eyes, he was sure of it that his hangover had given him a permanent frown. When he finally opened his eyes, he had trouble adjusting to the surroundings as he normally didn't wake up here. But where was _here_ again? Chas froze as he vaguely remembered John, drinks, there was also a dim memory of Beeman and he recalled to have kissed someone.  
_'Someone, someone.. Please don't let it be Beeman, please.'_

Then he finally became aware of the breathing behind his back, the arm that was lightly wrapped around him and then the warmth of a sleeping body against his. Chas smacked his forehead upon realization. _'Of course it wasn't Beeman, you idiot.'_  
He was almost positive about who it was that lay next to him as he had recognized this bedroom as John's by now and it only made sense to _think_ it made sense that it was John who breathed down on his neck. It wouldn't make sense if it were Beeman, unless John would be there _also_, the bed was big enough, after all. _'Chas, don't be stupid.'  
_  
Slowly he twisted his body, but it just couldn't be slow enough for the throbbing pain in his head only hurt more with every inch he moved. He couldn't be bothered with moving any further when he was lying on his back and it still made his head spin. John's arm hadn't budged during the move and was now resting on Chas' abdomen. Chas stared at the arm for a moment and acknowledged the fact that they were both still dressed.

Carefully, he turned his head to the right to make sure it was actually John since a pair of black pants and a white shirt didn't necessarily mean anything. There it was, the familiar face of John. Not Beeman. Not Beeman _and_ John. Just John. Chas sighed in relief as he found himself next to his crush, an alcoholic asshole who would take advantage of anyone when ever he pleased. The feeling of relief disappeared in an instant. This seemed nice, what with all the cozy arm wrapped around him, being physically close to John and feeling his breath in his neck, but there was no telling what John would say or do to him the minute he would wake up to a hangover and his arm around his apprentice.

He decided that maybe it would be best if he got out of bed and move to the kitchen before he would find out. Lazily, Chas pushed himself up and was about to move away from under John's arm to get up, but the sudden grip clinging to his shirt made it difficult to get out of bed. Normally Chas would chuckle at the thought of _John clinging_ and he'd have something degrading to say about that but it was too strange a morning to laugh at this sort of thing. A little unsettled, he looked over his shoulder to be greeted with the squinting eyes of John and his bed hair.  
The man looked so sleepy that he seemed almost human with a hint of sensitivity, any other day Chas would've gone _'Awwwe, look at the cute lil' exorcist,'_ but he felt too much like shit to ruin the moment and get a tongue lashing because appearances just aren't everything.

"Stay in the bed," Constantine mumbled, pulling the kid back in and spooned him when Chas had settled back next to him again after a bit of hesitation.

"New line?" Chas wondered as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth. "Wouldn't mind hearing that one more often," he mumbled, expecting a remark like _'don't count on it, kid.'_

"Mm, stay in the bed," John said, half asleep and pulling Chas a little closer.

"Ok, not goin' anywhere," Chas chuckled, though it was still really odd that John did everything Chas didn't expect him to do. "So, you're going back to sleep, John? What time is it?" Then Chas suddenly jerked up and as he did a blinding pain shot through his head. "Urgh! Shit, what day is it?" he yelped in pain, putting his hands to his forehead.

"Tuesday. I think," the exorcist replied with a frown and listlessly checked his watch. "And 11 o'clock in the morning."

Chas lay back and stared at the ceiling. "Tuesday, Tuesday." He tried to think what it normally was that he did on that day of the week. He sighed. "What do I do on Tuesdays?"

"Nothing," John answered a little too quickly, softly kissing the neck of his apprentice.

The touch tickled Chas a little and he winced only for John to ignore it and showered more tingling kisses in his neck. "Odd, I thought I had a job to get to, John," Chas said as his frown shifted to a lazy smirk.

"Not today you don't," Constantine breathed between kisses. "Besides, you're already late."

"Yeah, I _know_ that, John. I'm so late I probably missed getting my ass fired."

John pulled back. "So, you stay?"

Chas contemplated it and stared in the deep, searching eyes. "You're asking me to stay?" he finally voiced his surprise.

"Well, I already told you twice to stay in the bed," John said flatly.

"What happens if I stay? You kick me out?"

John chuckled. "I bring you coffee."

"Sure, ok, you go do that," Chas smirked. "You're the seasoned hung over person after all, I'm not sure if I remember how to walk," he added when John rolled to his side and sat up at the other side of the bed, leaving Chas to look at his back. "Next time when I say _'I need a drink,'_ you say _'Fuck off,'_ okay, John?"

"That's a lot of responsibility," John snorted as he rose to his feet and seemingly not having as bad a headache as Chas was suffering from.

"Or just make sure you have cookies," he sighed. Laggardly, Chas' arm shot up as he shut his eyes. "Could you get me some water, too? I'm sooo thirsty."

John sighed. Maybe he should kick him out as soon as the kid stops squirming. "Anything else you need, _Cleopatra_?"

"Hey!" Chas decried and opened his eyes. "Treat me like one all you like, but don't call me that."

"Ok, sure. _Princess_," he mumbled on his way out of the bedroom. "If that be your will."

"Fuck you, John."

Chas closed his eyes again and dozed off for a while until John shook him. "Get out of the bed."

"Ugh, what happened to _'Stay in the bed,'_ ?" Chas groaned after a minute. "I was having a nice little nap in it, John."

"Your coffee is served, _Your Highness_," Constantine scoffed as he forced the kid to sit up and gave him a glass of water. "Your water."

"I'll kill you if you're gonna kneel, John," Chas scowled, taking the water from John and drank it all in one go while John sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. "And I thought you said you'd _bring_ me coffee."

"Don't flatter yourself. How's your head?"

"Sorry, what?" Chas frowned, eliciting a roll of John's eyes. It was amazing to realize where his mind had gone to. "Oh, the headache. It's less. Thanks for the water," he rattled and got up as quickly as he could. "Oh, Christ," he exclaimed as a dizzy spell hit him and grabbed onto John who got up in time to catch him.  
"_Man_, this sucks." Although John had a firm grip on his arms and it would be difficult to fall down, Chas' hands clenched the exorcist's shoulders like there was no tomorrow until the dizziness had subsided and he looked back up, letting go of John.

"Ok, you can let go of me now," Chas said with a resolved face. "Dude, let go, I need to pee and a splash of cold water in my face."

John let go of him. "All right."

"I'll yell if I need your help," he said as he disappeared into the bathroom.

John shuffled back to the kitchen and sat down at the table to light a cigarette, waiting for Chas as he drank his coffee. When John had already finished half of his coffee, his apprentice finally came treading into the kitchen, frantically running his hands through his curly hair.

"My head just won't wake up," Chas pouted as he settled on the chair opposite John and grabbed his mug. "I can't believe you lived this long. You go through this every morning? Geeze," he mumbled and finally took a swig, ignoring the fact that his coffee had been standing there untouched for at least 10 minutes and didn't taste that good anymore.

John cleared his throat. He knew very well he liked his drinks, he liked his drinks so much he hated them and let it be Chas to remind him of that, no matter how unintentional it was. Constantine put his mug back on the table and angrily put out his cigarette. "Finish your coffee," he bit and got up.

Chas pretended not to have noticed the sudden change of mood and sipped his lukewarm coffee, making a face, but he was more interested in asking where John was going rather than complain about the coffee. "Where you going?"

"To run the bath."

Deadpan, Chas watched as John disappeared into the bathroom and listened as the water started running. Chas grew a little suspicious. "Why would you wanna do that, John?" he eventually asked, raising his voice. "You gonna drown me?"

There was no answer. Only the sound of running water until it stopped after several minutes. "Finished your coffee?" John asked as he walked out of the bathroom and slowly made his way to the kitchen table.

Chas looked at what was left of his coffee and wrinkled his nose. "I like my coffee hot. And this," he said, pointing at his coffee for emphasis. "This is not how I like my coffee."

"Then you should've been quick about it, Chas, it was hot fifteen minutes ago," John spouted and grabbed Chas by the arm to haul him off the chair, marching him to the bathroom.

"Uhm, John? Can I ask what the fuck you're doing?"

John pushed him inside. "You're taking a bath."

"I am?" he wondered out loud, trying hard not to loose his footing when John shoved him in. Too many times already had he fallen on his face in front of John. _'Let's not smack on bathroom tiles, I don't wanna bleed to death with John looking.'_  
Chas turned around to face John and frowned. "Ok, fine, but not with you in here," the kid fussed, crossing his arms. But all he got in return was a snort from Constantine. "John, I'm getting the impression you're not getting out."

Instead of breaking it down in words, John stepped closer, staring down rather than looking the youngster in the eye.

"John, if you're looking for cleavage, I'm not your guy," he frowned. "Besides, I'm not wearing a low cut shirt."

"Shut up," the exorcist said with an air of amusement, finally looking up. "You smell like booze."

Chas snorted. "Yeah, like you smell any different."

"Guess I better take a bath too then," he muttered as he leaned in, searching the soft lips that started moving, throwing out words before he even reached them. John straightened with a barely detectible sigh.

"What do you mean, 'take a bath too'? At a different time though, right? One that doesn't coincide with mine?" Chas went on without taking a breath. _'Knees, stay with me.'_

John could answer by using his vocal cords but he only knew one way to keep Chas from talking and without warning, he pressed his lips on Chas'. John opened his mouth and traced the soft lips with his tongue to prevent them from shedding another bundle of words.  
Prying open Chas' mouth with his tongue, he forced it inside, a hungry touch Chas returned in kind after a moment of hesitation. Pressing their bodies together, their hands roamed everywhere, across and underneath their shirts until they dropped them to the floor.

John moved his lips down to Chas' neck, showering kisses down his chest and stomach. He heard the hitch in Chas' breath, who stopped him from unfastening his pants. "The, the water's running cold," he wheezed, looking at John who was still on his knees and with Chas' belt in his grip.

"Well, get in," John said calmly, though if it were up to him those pants would drop to the floor right now.

Chas clenched his hands around John's wrists. "I still have my pants on. I'm not taking a bath with my pants on."

John chuckled. "I was _going_ to fix that."

"Ok, but, now it's all uncomfortable with you looking up from down there and we talk too much," Chas stumbled over his words. "'s Not sexy like it was a minute ago."

Without another word, John ran his tongue over Chas' abdomen, sending a sensation through the high-strung Chas who immediately let go of John's wrists. "Not sexy?" John said knowingly while he unfastened Chas' pants and pulled them to the floor without any further interruptions.

"Sexy enough," he replied and sank down to the floor to meet John at eye level. "Now you get in there with me, asshole," he smirked.

"Well, I still have my pants on."


End file.
